Fire Emblem loves to throw annoying enemies at the player doesn't it? It almost feels like each new game throws some type of enemy that the player that's designed to be as irritating as possible. I asked you guys which enemies you found most annoying, and thanks to your responses, I was able to create the following list:
# 10 - Gorgons (Sacred Stones)
One of the more popular responses when I asked about annoying enemies were Gorgons. Why do people find Gorgons annoying?
For starters, they have access to an ability called Stone, which causes the "Petrify" status. As FE Wiki puts it:
"While petrified, enemy units have a 100% hit rate along with increased critical hit rates, making even the weakest monster incredibly dangerous if they attack a petrified unit."(Source: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Gorgon)
They also have Shadowshot, a spell that hits hard (it has 13 might which is higher might than the other 3 - 10 spells in Sacred Stones), is accurate and has 3- 10 range. In the Japanese version, they're even worse:
"In the Japanese version, Gorgons had flier movement and thus ignored terrain."
# 9 - Jedah (Echoes)
Jedah was the boss that was frequently mentioned by name when people brought up annoying enemies. So let's take a look at why he can be annoying to fight:
The biggest problem with Jedah is that he can only take damage from every fourth unit. That means that if he isn't one round KO'ed, by your fourth unit, he can take a while to fight. This can be particularly annoying on blind playthroughs where the player may not be privy to that information. He also summons Mogalls, which are also annoying enemies to deal with too. In short, Jedah is annoying due to how tedious fighting him can become.
# 8 - Warp Witches (Echoes)
Int Sys Designer: "Hey I have an idea. Let's make an enemy that can warp to anywhere on the map and attack any random character they want. Players will love these enemies."
Yeah. It's not hard to see why an enemy that can attack the player from anywhere on a map would be particularly aggravating. Witch AI tend to prioritize characters who are by themselves, and avoid larger groups. Unfortunately, this information is not conveyed through the game itself, which often leads to frustrating trial and error. Many characters that are by themselves tend to have low Resistance, like Barons which makes the problem even worse. Thankfully, they get better once you learn about their AI, but if you don't they can be really random and annoying.
# 7 - Fire Emblem 12 Lunatic Dragons / FE 6 Nomads
What are FE 12 Dragons on this list? They have really high movement, consistent 1 - 2 range and they can hit hard. As the picture above shows, "high movement" means 12 move in addition to flight. Generally these enemies will fly to a spot on the map that's out of reach from any non-flier unit in the player's army and then on the next turn they'll attack. Since these dragons are FE 12 Lunatic enemies, they're gonna be accurate and they can generally kill any of your units in 2 - 3 hits. The good news about these enemies being FE 12 enemies is that they're also made of glass and can be killed very easily. There are a lot of weapons that deal effective damage against them, and the game gives you access to them so once these enemies get in range of the player they can be typically dealt with fast.
Likewise, FE 6 Nomads can be particularly annoying for similar reasons. They have high movement and consistent 2 range thanks to bows. What separates Nomads from FE 12 Dragons though is that these enemies typically have high avoid in a game where hit rates are bad enough. Plus they also tend to have high speed which means that only a handful of player characters can double attack them. Weapons that deal effective damage against cavalry units also don't apply to Nomads. Because....reasons? Nomads are a big reason why people prefer the Ilia route to the Sacae route when playing Binding Blade. Nomads are even worse if they're sitting on thrones for reasons we'll come back to in a later post.
So there you have it: Two enemy types with high movement that can kill off your weaker units easily. Don't underestimate these enemies.
# 6 - Status Staves & Ballista
Another popular mention for annoying enemies were status staves and ballista. It's not difficult to see why either. Status staves can screw players over if they're not adequately prepared. When it comes to status staves, the biggest shout-out go to:
- Berserk Staff Wielders
- Thracia 776 Status Staves
- The Hexing Rod
Berserk Staves are awful because they literally turn your units against each other. If one of your strongest units get hit by this, the player will be in a world of hurt. Status staves are extremely powerful in Thracia 776 where their effects are permanent. If you don't have a Restore staff handy, your character will get permanently screwed over.
Most Fire Emblem games that have status staves are generally kind enough to make restores staves available to the player. So if you do get hit by a status staff you at least have a viable solution to the problem. Then Fates came along and decided that this was too reasonable, so the game decided to throw a particularly brutal status staff and then give the player no Restore staff. Enter the Hexing Rod.
In Fates, the Hexing Rod cuts your HP in half. This is really scary, because the HP growths in Fates are already low. Cutting them in half is basically a death sentence for any character unfortunate enough to have this happen to them. This status effect remains for the duration of the map, and there's no way to restore it once it hits you. No matter how you look at it, that's unfair. And it's also the reason why I consider the Hexing Rod to be the most dangerous status staff in the series.
Next, we have ballista. Ballista are basically long range arrows that can deal extra damage to player characters without having to worry about a counter attack. Any area where ballista are present make approaching a map significantly more challenging. They usually deal a decent amount of damage and at least some of them will have reliable accuracy. Ballista will always provide an extra way to challenge the player no matter where they are, or what game they're in.
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